HBS Managing the Future of Work

Dan O’Connor, retail expert and executive-in-residence with the HBS Managing the Future of Work project, traces the evolution of retail from the corner store through big-box, e-commerce, and the emergence of omni-faceted digital platforms. What are the implications for employers and employees throughout the sector? Retail accounts for more than 5 percent of US gross domestic product (GDP) and employs more than any other industry, roughly 16 million workers, or one in ten. Globally, the emergence of mega-platforms like Amazon and Alibaba, with their consolidated supply chains and mountains of customer data, is forcing the industry to adopt leaner and more responsive operating models while the workforce comes to terms with automation and other advances.

Amazon in the summer of 2019 announced a sweeping five-year plan to bolster the skills of a third of its US workforce—close to 100,000 worker-learners. The plan includes apprenticeships, partnerships with local community colleges, and internal programs. As Amazon’s Vice President of Workforce Development, Ardine Williams, notes, the initiative isn’t philanthropy. She argues that Amazon’s investment in training workers—even if some ultimately leave for higher-paying jobs—makes good business sense.

Art Bilger is sounding the alarm over systemic trends in the world of work—the mismatch of labor force skills and job requirements; automation; underemployment and structural unemployment. The Wall Street veteran, whose CV includes successes in media and high-tech, founded nonprofit media production company WorkingNation in 2016 to bring attention to these sweeping and rapid changes, which he warns could lead to economic and societal crises.  Through news coverage, short documentaries, a podcast, and town hall-style events, WorkingNation focuses on individuals and groups whose stories underscore the difficulties and illustrate solutions.             

For decades, enterprise systems vendors have promised legacy businesses virtual omniscience—decision-making informed by real-time, comprehensive views of their organizations’ activities and relevant external factors. This holy grail has eluded large established organizations, with their complex agglomerations of systems. Silicon Valley software developer Aera Technology touts an AI-assisted upgrade, tapping disparate systems and data flows to provide comprehensible and timely recommendations and automated decision-making. President and CEO, Fred Laluyaux, explains how advances in computing power coupled with vast stores of data are ushering in a new mode of operations, with computers handling more routine analysis and decision-making. This, in turn, is accelerating the automation of previously “safe” knowledge work. Laluyaux discusses the benefits and the organizational changes and challenges.

Financial Services giant Prudential is pursuing a hybrid workforce strategy. It’s all-in on automation for underwriting and other data-intensive, but routine, tasks. And it looks to the labor market for certain in-demand skills. But, according to vice chairman Robert Falzon, the New Jersey-based multinational is committed to cultivating the capabilities of its 50,000 employees. Many of its workers are also its financial services customers. This, along with low unemployment in the industry, helps explain why Prudential is working to develop its internal market for skills, identifying both supply (workers) and demand (jobs) in terms of competencies, expertise, and attributes, rather than experience and general categories. Falzon explains how this symbiotic approach leads the company to pursue efficiencies as it also looks to foster the careers of its home-grown talent.

The Washington Technology Industry Association’s Apprenti apprenticeship program is a creature of the Seattle tech industry. But since its 2015 founding, it has become a national player in the workforce development market. As a partner in the federal government’s push to extend apprenticeships beyond construction and the trades, Apprenti is addressing the skills gap while diversifying the tech workforce. Executive Director Jennifer Carlson discusses how Apprenti connects employers with promising candidates, many of whom lack 4-year degrees, and helps them navigate the complexities of federal and state systems.  

Computer-aided design pioneer, Autodesk, is tightening the integration of design and production in everything from architecture to movies. This simple concept has far-reaching implications for the nature of work. Jobs, supply chains, and industries are set to become more transparent, automated, and interconnected. Construction is on the verge of becoming more like manufacturing, thanks to machine learning and cloud-based automation and control. Manufacturing is becoming more automated and customized. Training will become a continuous function of many jobs. CEO Andrew Anagnost is collaborating with Autodesk customers and workers to speed the process and seeking ways to mitigate the disruptive effects. He joins us to discuss these changes and how to address the skills gap in tech, construction and manufacturing.

Werk Enterprises uses surveys and data analytics to help organize work through a set of predefined, flexible arrangements, rather than the traditional 9-to-5 in the office. This HR version of mass customization can recalibrate the relationship between employers and employees to better match the needs of both. HBS alumna Anna Auerbach and her cofounder, Annie Dean, were initially motivated by the challenges facing professional women, whose careers have often suffered due to the conflicting demands of work and life. Werk touts hard numbers – in employee retention, net promoter scores, and productivity --  to make the business case for carefully tailored flexibility across the board, in contrast to the chaotic approach blamed for recent high profile pullbacks.

International trade expert and former presidential advisor, Richard Baldwin, discusses his latest book, The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics, and the Future of Work. He argues that the speed and sweep of economic and social changes resulting from global connectivity and AI could provoke widespread dissatisfaction. These factors are already influencing white-collar, middle-class employment. Work that can be automated or done remotely offers employers huge potential savings. Jobs that require onsite collaboration and interpersonal skills look less vulnerable.

The Aspen Institute has spent the past decade deconstructing how top US post-secondary schools bolster their diverse students’ work and life prospects. The nonprofit recently released its Workforce Playbook, which distills the best practices of leading community colleges and lays out the challenges they face. This work-based learning curriculum writ large informs college administrators, business leaders, and policy makers as they look for innovative ways to cultivate community talent pipelines.